Control-oriented thermal model and load identification for circulating cooling water system in precision process applications

With the increasing precision in machining and measurement, there is a growing demand for improved temperature stability in cooling water systems used in industrial processes. Accurate thermal models and load states are essential for developing efficient controllers to enhance temperature performance. This paper focuses on the development of thermal models for various components of circulating water systems in precision water-cooling processes. It presents a control-oriented thermal model framework that segregates the water circulation cycles and defines system inputs and processes. A novel identification algorithm is proposed to address thermal inertia and cyclic nonlinearity by extracting the cyclic period and cycle change rate. The algorithm can simultaneously estimate the state–space model and unmeasurable load disturbances. A validation experimental setup was constructed, and the results demonstrate that, for different flow scenarios, the estimated load and thermal model parameters align well, with correlations exceeding 0.85 and error ratios close to 10%. Additionally, the circulating water output temperature can be accurately predicted. The fitting degrees surpass 84% within five cycles, with correlations exceeding 0.97 and error standard deviations below 0.22 °C. •Developing a circulating water model frame oriented to precision process.•A identification algorithm is proposed to handle inertia and cyclic nonlinearity.•Extracting the cyclic period based on spectral correlation.•Simultaneously obtain the state–space model and unmeasured load disturbance.•Accurate load-model estimation and output prediction.